Hunters of the whale: An adventure of northwest coast archaeology,

by Ruth Kirk

Book by Kirk, Ruth

Genres: Anthropology

160 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, written in 1974, details the archaeological discovery of the houses at Ozette, on the Makah reservation on the Washington coast. The book starts with the details of finds made in a trench dug in 1966 by Richard Daugherty, and then continues to the exciting discovery of the buried house after it was exposed after a storm in 1970. The house had been buried by a mudslide most likely in the 1700's, so the artifacts they found were all items from a time before white explorers came to this area. The book contains a multitude of black and white photos of the dig and the items found, and is fascinating for anyone who may be interested in this type of archaeology. It is also a bit of a time capsule, as it details the dig at the time it was happening, over 40 years ago.

I will now be moving on to read the recently released Ozette: Excavating a Makah Whaling Village, written by the same author in 2015, to see the updates on this site.

[GRANT · Rating 4 out of 5]

While written for "juvenile" readers, it is an excellent overview of the Ozette discoveries and the scientific and cultural finds. Having experience with several professional archaeological reports, I still found it engaging. I was especially intrigued having visited the site in 1970 and 1972 as a teen. This is an excellent story of cooperation with the Makah People in the study and preservation of their heritage.

[Connie D · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is on a topic I'm very interested in, but the approach was often not interesting at all, especially considering it was supposed to be written for children. There is too much time spent on when and where the professor is teaching/working rather than on the archaeological dig itself. When the story finally focuses on the dig and its finds, it is fine. 2.5 stars.